The Paul Ryan-Joe Biden debate Thursday night in Danville, Ky. — the only vice-presidential debate of this election — will cover both foreign and domestic topics and be divided into nine time segments of about 10 minutes each. It starts at 9 p.m. Washington Wire will be live blogging it, and WSJ.com will have live video.

Mr. Biden’s camp has been hinting for days that the vice president doesn’t intend to pull any punches in his showdown with Mr. Ryan on Thursday night. The typically feisty vice president has promised to come out with both guns blazing in a bid to draw sharper distinctions with the Republican ticket than President Barack Obama did last week. Mr. Ryan, for his part, is likely to continue pressing the argument that Mr. Obama’s re-election promises to bring a new round of tax increases and meager job growth.

Here’s a guide to the key issues and buzzwords that are likely to be debated.

THE “RYAN BUDGET”: Mr. Ryan is considered by Republicans and Democrats alike to be the GOP’s leading man on federal budget policy, and spending proposals he’s authored in the past two years that include sweeping changes to the Medicare and Medicaid entitlement programs have become known as “the Ryan budget.” So you can expect the debate to focus heavily on these issues. The Romney campaign wants to move quickly to cut the deficit through spending reductions and overhauls of entitlement programs like Medicare. The Obama campaign wants to include higher taxes on upper-income Americans as part of any package. Both candidates have praised parts of the bipartisan 2010 deficit-reduction package referred to as “Simpson-Bowles,” but neither candidate has fully embraced the plan.

MEDICARE: The top-of-the-ticket candidates made it clear when they debated last week that they have opposing positions on the future structure of the Medicare program. Expect to hear Messrs. Biden and Ryan home in on this, since Mr. Ryan has been a leader among Republicans in arguing for changes to the program that would have private insurers compete head-to-head with traditional government-run Medicare to insure seniors. Democrats see it as an issue they can win on, but Mr. Ryan defends his ideas forcefully. In the latest iteration of proposals from Mr. Ryan, seniors would get a subsidy for the cost of premiums for the second cheapest plan in their area, and would have to pay out of pocket if they wanted more expensive Medicare coverage. Democrats call this a voucher, and argue, as Mr. Obama did at AARP, that older, sicker seniors in particular could still wind up having to pay out of pocket to stay in traditional Medicare or find fewer doctors willing to see them. Interestingly, a key part of the GOP proposals is that they would only affect people currently 54 or younger — and those voters are less hostile to the idea than current seniors or people about to age into Medicare.

THE “47%”: Many Democrats were mystified after the first presidential debate because President Obama didn’t raise the specter of the now-famous “47%” video, in which Mitt Romney told a room of wealthy donors earlier this year that nearly half the country doesn’t pay taxes, depends on government and considers themselves “victims.” The 47% video fuels criticism, embraced by a wide swath of the electorate, that Mr. Romney doesn’t understand everyday Americans, given his net worth which is in the neighborhood of $200 million. Mr. Ryan knows the attack is coming, so expect him to parrot Mr. Romney’s mea culpa last week in which the Republican nominee said his comments were “completely wrong,” while reassuring voters the ticket – and the party – is gravely concerned about the plight of middle-income Americans. Mr. Biden will likely tie Mr. Romney’s remarks to budgetary policies authored by his no. 2, but the exchange should serve as a reminder that the two candidates on stage Thursday night (Messrs. Biden and Ryan) will likely be overshadowed by the two who aren’t (the president and Mr. Romney).

JANESVILLE: Mr. Ryan represents the fifth generation of his family reared in this blue-collar Wisconsin city. On the campaign trail, Janesville has come to symbolize his down-to-earth Midwestern roots, along with his stories of bow-hunting elk and working at McDonald’s as a teenager. The veteran congressman is well-known in political circles, but the rest of the country isn’t as familiar with him. So, don’t be surprised if he sprinkles in some anecdotes tonight about his upbringing. The campaigns have also traded barbs over the closure of a General Motors facility in Janesville. Mr. Ryan highlighted the plant’s closure as a symbol of the president’s failure to jump start the long-sputtering U.S. economy, but the Obama campaign shot back by noting GM shuttered the bulk of its facility before Mr. Obama took office – and GM announced its decision to close the plant months before the 2008 election. (Operations continued on one line of light trucks being built in a joint venture Isuzu for several months after the president was sworn in.)

TAXES: This topic has gotten huge attention, both because it is one place that government touches Americans directly and as a proxy for issues such as jobs and the middle class. Democrats charge that Mr. Romney’s far-reaching tax overhaul is a new version of “trickle-down economics,” cutting taxes for the rich and either raising them for the middle class or adding further to deficits. Mr. Romney denies that, but hasn’t offered details. Mr. Obama says that reducing the deficit requires tax increases – but only the top 2%. Mr. Romney says that would penalize the job creators. (Turning trickle-down on its head, Mr. Romney has called Mr. Obama’s economic approach “trickle-down government.”) Expect Mr. Biden and Mr. Ryan to press those attacks. Biden also has spent a lot of time criticizing Romney’s plan to ease corporate tax rules for multinationals; Republicans say the U.S. rules are out of date and put American firms at a disadvantage compared to foreign rivals.

$716 BILLION: The Obama health law’s $716 billion in cuts to payments to insurers and physicians for treatment of Medicare beneficiaries have long been considered by Republicans to be one of their strongest arguments for rallying seniors against the overhaul. They’ve also seized on the cuts to neutralize Democratic attacks on their Medicare proposals. Democrats have fought back by describing benefits in the health law for seniors such as help with prescription drug costs. But they’ve also increasingly pointed to Republican support for the same cuts (Bill Clinton was cheered at the Democratic convention for his quip that “it takes some brass to attack a guy for doing what you did.”) Mr. Romney said last week that there was a key distinction in what they would do with the money: use it to shore up the Medicare program. Stay tuned to see if Mr. Ryan is sharp with his response tonight too.

7.8%: That’s the current U.S. unemployment rate, an abnormally high level for this stage of a recovery. The rate fell from 8.1% in August and now matches where it was when Obama took office in January 2009; it peaked at 10% in October of that year. The White House says that it would have been worse if not for all of Mr. Obama’s efforts, especially his controversial 2009 big fiscal stimulus. The Romney-Ryan ticket insists the recovery would have been better if not for Mr. Obama’s rhetoric, his administration’s regulations and the health-care law – and blames the administration for a lot of the much-discussed uncertainty that is hurting hiring.

THE ATTACK IN BENGHAZI, LIBYA: The Obama administration’s handling of the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi and the death of Ambassador Christopher Stevens has been a major avenue of Republican attack, and one which Paul Ryan is expected to take up in the debate. New details emerging this week about concerns within the State Department about using Libyans to provide security at diplomatic outposts, will likely fuel the argument. Mr. Ryan could also argue that President Obama has played down the threat from al Qaeda affiliates in North Africa for political reasons. Republicans have charged the administration initially played down the role terrorists played in the attack so as not to undermine Mr. Obama’s contention that he has weakened the terrorist organization. The Obama administration has countered that it wasn’t trying to play down the role of al Qaeda in the attack, but that information about the attack evolved and crew over time. But if he takes a more combative tone, Mr. Biden could take up the counter attack Democrats have pressed in recent days that weakness in diplomatic security is partially the fault of Republicans who have cut spending in that area below the Obama administration’s recommendations.

$16 TRILLION: Total U.S. government debt has now eclipsed $16 trillion, and the Congressional Budget Office recently said that the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2012 was the fourth consecutive year that the government ran a deficit in excess of $1 trillion.

MEDICAID: Democrats have started hitting the Republican ticket over its proposals to curb Medicaid spending by changing it from a program in which the federal government matches every dollar spent by states to one in which states get a fixed amount of money but more flexibility in how they spend it. Bill Clinton framed this as a middle-class issue in his convention speech when he said cuts would hurt seniors in nursing homes and families with disabled children. The Obama campaign started airing ads using a similar attack in five battleground states last week using similar language, and Mr. Obama criticized Mr. Romney on the issue in last week’s presidential debate. Mr. Romney responded by saying that governors — and he’s one of them — can better manage the program on their own, and that no state would lose funding they’ve had in previous years. Mr. Ryan could offer a different defense, by pointing to the growth of Medicaid spending over time or the ways in which governors have gamed the system to maximize federal dollars.

IRAN and ISRAEL: Mr. Romney earlier this week renewed his criticism of the Obama administration’s handling of Iran and relations with Israel. Although domestic policy, not foreign foreign, is Mr. Ryan’s strong suit, he could press the attack begun by Mr. Romney. Republicans have said that the Obama administration’s failure to reassure Israel that the U.S. will prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, has contributed to instability in the region. Look for Mr. Biden, who led the Senate Foreign Relations committee before becoming vice president, to make the case that the Obama administration has established the toughest sanctions on Iran ever, crippling their economy. Mr. Biden could argue that it would be very difficult for Mr. Romney to establish tougher sanctions on Iran.

KEYSTONE, COAL and SOLYNDRA:To Republican ears, nothing says “Obama obstructs oil and gas development” better than the blocked Keystone pipeline that would have carried Canadian crude to the Gulf Coast. All year, the GOP has attacked the Obama administration for nixing the project—even though some of the loudest opponents were Nebraska Republicans. Don’t expect the candidates to get in the weeds on the relative merits of the project, offering dueling estimates of jobs or the true impact of the pipeline on gas prices. Coal could be yet another flashpoint: Republicans bemoan the Obama administration’s “war on coal,” and say they’d tap domestic energy and the jobs it brings. Mr. Biden could tout environmental advances made by the Obama administration via new coal regulations, but also has to at least pay lip service to an ‘all of the above’ energy policy. Finally, Solyndra, the failed solar-energy company, galvanized Republican opposition to the Obama administration’s support for clean energy, and has been a favorite line of attack for Mr. Ryan in the past. While Mr. Ryan can be expected to play the Solyndra card, Joe Biden has a counter: As congressman, Ryan solicited federal funds for clean energy projects in Wisconsin.

DODD-FRANK: An unexpected flashpoint in the election in recent weeks has been the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial overhaul law. The Obama campaign has said it will prevent – or at least contain – the next financial crisis and protect consumers from abusive banking practices. The Romney campaign has said the law doesn’t do enough to prevent banks from threatening the economy and has burdensome rules that restrain growth. Mr. Romney, in the first presidential debate, called Dodd-Frank “the biggest kiss that’s being given to New York banks I have ever seen.”

About Washington Wire

Washington Wire is one of the oldest standing features in American journalism. Since the Wire launched on Sept. 20, 1940, the Journal has offered readers an informal look at the capital. Now online, the Wire provides a succession of glimpses at what’s happening behind hot stories and warnings of what to watch for in the days ahead. The Wire is led by Reid J. Epstein, with contributions from the rest of the bureau. Washington Wire now also includes Think Tank, our home for outside analysis from policy and political thinkers.